Well-being and functional abilities in nursing home and home living seniors in Latvia

The society in developed countries is aging. 1.5% of seniors live in nursing homes in Latvia. Aim: to compare functional abilities and wellbeing between nursing home and home living Latvian seniors. Methods: 280 home living seniors and 285 from nursing homes, age ≥ 65 years able to respond to questions and stand up were included in the study based on availability. They were asked to describe their well-being from very bad to very good. The functional abilities were assessed by hand grip strength, the ability to stand up without assistance, the dependence on caregivers (1 – independent, 2 – partly dependent, 3 – fully dependent), the use of walking device assistance devices. Results: The home living seniors could stand up without assistance of hands more often than nursing home residents (60.4% vs. 38.2%, p < 0.001). The handgrip strength was higher in the elderly community-dwelling women (0.3 (0.2–0.3) vs. 0.2 (0.15–0.2) Ba), p < 0.001. The nursing home residents were less often independent (62.8% vs. 83.9%, p < 0.001), more often partly dependent (30.2% vs. 14.6%, p < 0.001) and independent (7.0% vs. 1.4%, p = 0, 001) while performing activities of daily living. The nursing home residents had higher walking device assistance needs (mean rank 345.7 vs. 219.2, p < 0.001) and described their well-being as “good” more often (28.4% vs. 16.8%, p = 0.001) and less often as “bad” or “very bad” (18.9% vs. 26.8%, p = 0.048). Conclusion. The subjective well-being of elderly nurse home residents is better than of home living seniors despite having less functional abilities.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Estimation of body weight and stature in Latvian hospitalized seniors

Introduction. Weight and height are important measurements for many medical procedures. They are difficult to measure in bedridden patients. They can be estimated through equations based on anthropometric measurements generated in other countries, however their adequacy in different ethnical groups has been poorly studied. Objective. To confirm the adequacy of formulae suggested in literature and to develop weight and height predicting equations for Latvian hospitalized seniors which use a tapeline as only tool and include no more than one measurement require turning bedridden patient. Methods. Anthropometric measurements were taken from hospitalized seniors (≥65 years) admitted to the Gerontology Centre, Riga East University Hospital. Actual body height and weight were compared with their estimates calculated from Chumlea, Rabito, Bernal, Lorenz, Crandell equations. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to create weight and height predictive models. The estimated and actual values were compared through a paired sample t-test. Results. 223 hospitalized seniors, 169 women and 54 men, were assessed. There was no significant difference between actual and estimated mean weight by Rabito in females. The Chumlea formula estimated height in both genders. The Chumlea, Bernal underestimated, but Lorenz and Crandell formula overestimated the mean weight. The best weight predictive models which included only circumference measurements and no more than one measurement requiring to turn bedridden patients were 0.709*abdominal circumference +1.425* arm circumference (AC)+1.083*calf circumference (CC)-68.968, R2=0.962 for males and 0.853* hip circumference+ 1.405*AC+0.499*CC–79.355, R2=0.870 for females. The adjusted height formula was 76.146–4.961* gender-0.151* age+1.245* hemispan, R2=0.732. Conclusions. The suitable equations for the studied population body weight estimation were Rabito and Chumlea equations but for females only. The height was predicted by the Chumlea formula in both genders and by the Rabito equation in males. The best predictive body weight model which uses circumference measurements from which only one requires to turn bedridden patients were created and differed in females and males in the use of hip or abdominal circumference respectively. The height estimating equation which uses a tapeline as the only tool was adjusted for the study population. Validation of created equations is needed in a larger Latvian senior population.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Vocal modulation during courtship increases proceptivity even in naive listeners

Speakers modulate their voice when talking to infants, but we know little about subtle variation in acoustic parameters during speech in adult social interactions. Because tests of perception of such variation are hampered by listeners' understanding of semantic content, studies often confine speech to enunciation of standard sentences, restricting ecological validity. Furthermore, apparent paralinguistic modulation in one language may be underpinned by specific parameters of that language. Here we circumvent these problems by recording speech directed to attractive or unattractive potential partners or competitors, and testing responses to these recordings by naive listeners, across both a Germanic (English) and a Slavic (Czech) language. Analysis of acoustic parameters indicates that men's voices varied F0 most in speech towards potential attractive versus unattractive mates, while modulation of women's F0 variability was more sensitive to competitors, with higher variability when those competitors were relatively attractive. There was striking similarity in patterns of social context-dependent F0 variation across the two model languages, with both men's and women's voices varying most when responding to attractive individuals. Men's minimum pitch was lower when responding to attractive than unattractive women. For vocal modulation to be effective, however, it must be sufficiently detectable to promote proceptivity towards the speaker. We showed that speech directed towards attractive individuals was preferred by naive listeners of either language over speech by the same speaker to unattractive individuals, even when voices were stripped of several acoustic properties by low-pass filtering, which renders speech unintelligible. Our results suggest that modulating F0 may be a critical parameter in human courtship, independently of semantic content

Beliefs about the Minds of Others Influence How We Process Sensory Information

Attending where others gaze is one of the most fundamental mechanisms of social cognition. The present study is the first to examine the impact of the attribution of mind to others on gaze-guided attentional orienting and its ERP correlates. Using a paradigm in which attention was guided to a location by the gaze of a centrally presented face, we manipulated participants' beliefs about the gazer: gaze behavior was believed to result either from operations of a mind or from a machine. In Experiment 1, beliefs were manipulated by cue identity (human or robot), while in Experiment 2, cue identity (robot) remained identical across conditions and beliefs were manipulated solely via instruction, which was irrelevant to the task. ERP results and behavior showed that participants' attention was guided by gaze only when gaze was believed to be controlled by a human. Specifically, the P1 was more enhanced for validly, relative to invalidly, cued targets only when participants believed the gaze behavior was the result of a mind, rather than of a machine. This shows that sensory gain control can be influenced by higher-order (task-irrelevant) beliefs about the observed scene. We propose a new interdisciplinary model of social attention, which integrates ideas from cognitive and social neuroscience, as well as philosophy in order to provide a framework for understanding a crucial aspect of how humans' beliefs about the observed scene influence sensory processing

Анализ и обзор состояния мер борьбы с паразитическими членистоногими Республики Беларусь

The purpose of the research is to analyze situation with control measures against animals with ectoparasitoses by the means of bringing environmentally safe and easy to use medicinal products to animal industry. Materials and methods. Literature has been studied and situation on extension of the major parasitic arthopods in animals have been analyzed in the Republic of Belarus. Evaluation of results of administration of Stomozan, Ektocin-5, Ratoks, Pharmacidol-600 as well as Rivertin, Univerm, aversectin paste and Pharmacine. Results and discussion. It is necessary to carry out disinfestation of outer walls, summer sheds, fences by the means of Stomozan, Ektocin-5, Ratoks, Pharmacidol-600 in order to eliminate parasitic insects and mites. Animals might be treated by these drugs. During the winter animals are treated by insect-powder, unctures, liniments. At the onset of warm weather animals are treated by liquid acaricides at all times. Drugs from the pyrethroids, macrocyclic lactone, organic sulphur-containing compound groups are administered more frequent. But summer spraying do not guarantee 100 % impact against gadfly diseases. For horse treatment Rivertin can be used in the dose of 0.1 mg per kg of animal body weight per os with food dualfold in 24 hours; Univerm can be used in the dose of 0.1 mg per kg per os with food dualfold in 24 hours; 2% Aversectin paste can be used in the dose of 1 g per 100 kg of body weight per os dualfold every other day. Pharmacine in the single dose of 0.4 ml (2 injections of 0.2 ml) intradermally in the neck is recommended to use for treatment of hypodermatosis. Intradermal administration of Pharmacine is effective during the period from September, 15 to March (as far as swellings are appeared under the skin). If larvae formed velum under the skin, the dose should be increased.Цель исследований: провести анализ состояния мер борьбы с эктопаразитозами животных путем обеспечения животноводства экологически безопасными, удобными в применении лекарственными средствами. Материалы и методы. Изучена литература и проанализирована ситуация по распространению основных паразитических членистоногих у животных в Республике Беларусь. Дана оценка результатов применения стомозана, эктоцина-5, ратокса, фармацидола-600, а также ривертина, универма, аверсектиновой пасты и фармацина. Результаты и обсуждение. Для уничтожения паразитических насекомых и клещей важно проводить дезинсекцию наружных стен, летних навесов, оград стомазаном, эктоцином-5, ратоксом, фармацидолом-600. Этими же препаратами можно обрабатывать животных. В зимнее время животных лечат дустами, мазями, линиментами. При наступлении тепла животных обязательно подвергают обработке жидкими акарицидами. Чаще применяют препараты из групп пиретроидов, макроциклических лактонов, органических серосодержащих соединений. Но летние опрыскивания не дают 100%-ного эффекта в борьбе с оводовыми болезнями. Для лечения лошадей можно использовать ривертин внутрь с кормом в дозе 0,1 мг/кг массы тела животного двукратно через 24 ч, универм внутрь с кормом в дозе 0,1 мг/кг двукратно через 24 ч, аверсектиновую пасту 2% внутрь в дозе 1 г/100 кг массы тела двукратно через сутки. Для лечения гиподерматоза рекомендуется применять фармацин внутрикожно в область шеи в дозе 0,4 мл однократно (две инъекции по 0,2 мл). Внутрикожное введение фармацина является эффективным в период с 15 сентября по март (до появления желваков под кожей). Если же личинки под кожей сформировали капсулу, то следует увеличить дозу

BRCA1 and BRCA2 5′ noncoding region variants identified in breast cancer patients alter promoter activity and protein binding

© 2018 The Authors. Human Mutation published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. The widespread use of next generation sequencing for clinical testing is detecting an escalating number of variants in noncoding regions of the genome. The clinical significance of the majority of these variants is currently unknown, which presents a significant clinical challenge. We have screened over 6,000 early-onset and/or familial breast cancer (BC) cases collected by the ENIGMA consortium for sequence variants in the 5′ noncoding regions of BC susceptibility genes BRCA1 and BRCA2, and identified 141 rare variants with global minor allele frequency \u3c 0.01, 76 of which have not been reported previously. Bioinformatic analysis identified a set of 21 variants most likely to impact transcriptional regulation, and luciferase reporter assays detected altered promoter activity for four of these variants. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays demonstrated that three of these altered the binding of proteins to the respective BRCA1 or BRCA2 promoter regions, including NFYA binding to BRCA1:c.-287C\u3eT and PAX5 binding to BRCA2:c.-296C\u3eT. Clinical classification of variants affecting promoter activity, using existing prediction models, found no evidence to suggest that these variants confer a high risk of disease. Further studies are required to determine if such variation may be associated with a moderate or low risk of BC

Does a child’s language ability affect the correspondence between parent and teacher ratings of ADHD symptoms?

Background: Rating scales are often used to identify children with potential Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), yet there are frequently discrepancies between informants which may be moderated by child characteristics. The current study asked whether correspondence between parent and teacher ratings on the Strengths and Weakness of ADHD symptoms and Normal behaviour scale (SWAN) varied systematically with child language ability. Method: Parent and teacher SWAN questionnaires were returned for 200 children (aged 61–81 months); 106 had low language ability (LL) and 94 had typically developing language (TL). After exploring informant correspondence (using Pearson correlation) and the discrepancy between raters, we report inter-class correlation coefficients, to assess inter-rater reliability, and Cohen’s kappa, to assess agreement regarding possible ADHD caseness. Results: Correlations between informant ratings on the SWAN were moderate. Children with LL were rated as having increased inattention and hyperactivity relative to children with TL; teachers, however, rated children with LL as having more inattention than parents. Inter-rater reliability of the SWAN was good and there were no systematic differences between the LL and TL groups. Case agreement between parent and teachers was fair; this varied by language group with poorer case agreement for children with LL. Conclusion: Children’s language abilities affect the discrepancy between informant ratings of ADHD symptomatology and the agreement between parents and teachers regarding potential ADHD caseness. The assessment of children’s core language ability would be a beneficial addition to the ADHD diagnostic process.</p

CIP2A expression predicts recurrences of tamoxifen-treated breast cancer

CIP2A is emerging as an oncoprotein overexpressed commonly across many tumours and generally correlated with higher tumour grade and therapeutic resistance. CIP2A drives an oncogenic potential through inhibiting protein phosphatase 2A, stabilizing MYC, and promoting epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, although further biological mechanisms for CIP2A are yet to be defined. CIP2A protein expression was studied by immunohistochemistry in oestrogen receptor–positive primary breast cancers (n = 250) obtained from the Leeds Tissue Bank. In total, 51 cases presented with a relapse or metastasis during adjuvant treatment with tamoxifen and were regarded as tamoxifen resistant. CIP2A expression was scored separately for cytoplasmic, nuclear, or membranous staining, and scores were tested for statistically significant relationships with clinicopathological features. Membranous CIP2A was preferentially expressed in cases who experienced a recurrence during tamoxifen treatment thus predicting a worse overall survival (log rank = 8.357, p = 0.004) and disease-free survival (log rank = 21.766, p < 0.001). Cox multivariate analysis indicates that it is an independent prognostic indicator for overall survival (hazard ratio = 4.310, p = 0.013) and disease-free survival (hazard ratio = 5.449, p = 0.002). In this study, we propose the assessment of membranous CIP2A expression as a potential novel prognostic and predictive indicator for tamoxifen resistance and recurrence within oestrogen receptor–positive breast cancer